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3 November 1992
Doc. 6717
REPLY
from the Committee of Ministers
to Written Question No. 345
by Mr RATHBONE
on European Drugs Prevention Week
I. Question (5 October 1992, Doc. 6694)
Mr RATHBONE, on behalf of the Social, Health and Family Affairs Committee,
To ask the Committee of Ministers,
What is being done to ensure maximum support for European Drugs Prevention Week (16-22 November 1992) from the Council of Europe's Pompidou Group (working in cooperation with CELAD) and from individual Council of Europe member states, involving the European Drugs Monitoring Centre and the international organisations and European agencies supporting its work - bearing in mind the Assembly's Recommendation 1085 (1988) for greater cooperation in the fight against drugs misuse, the conclusions of the First World Ministerial Summit to Reduce Demand for Drugs (1990) and the Assembly's Recommendation 1169 (1991), particularly for greater pan-European co-operation including the creation of a European fund for anti-drug education programmes and better methods of systematic exchange of information on the most effective national and international strategies for better education for health.
II. Reply from the Committee of Ministers (22 October 1992)
1. In general terms, there is good co-operation between the Council of Europe's Pompidou Group and the European Committee to Combat Drugs (CELAD). However, the CELAD has emphasised from the outset that European Drugs Prevention Week is essentially an event organised within the context of the European Communities. It has, however, accepted that certain specific events within the Week be open to a wider audience.
2. The Council of Europe's Pompidou Group is collaborating in the main such event, the international media seminar and workshops for drug prevention professionals to be held in London on 17-18 November 1992. This will involve participants from many Council of Europe member states, in particular persons involved with the Pompidou Group's Expert Committee on prevention and the role of the media. In consultation with the Pompidou Group Secretariat, the United Kingdom organisers are also inviting some 20 participants from Central and Eastern European countries and arranging an additional programme of technical visits to projects for them. The Pompidou Group Secretariat will also be running with the World Health Organisation (WHO) European Office, during the professionals day a specific workshop on prevention in Central and Eastern Europe.
3. As regards co-operation with the European Drugs Monitoring Centre (EDMC), it should be noted that the EDMC has not yet been created formally. The Pompidou Group is co-operating with the persons involved in preliminary work on the EDMC, in particular in respect of initiatives to improve the circulation of information on prevention programmes. This co-operation can however only be made concrete after formal adoption of the EDMC Regulations (probably at the December 1992 Edinburgh meeting of the European Council) and subsequent creation of its administrative structures.
4. The Pompidou Group has insisted in its current work programme on the need to increase the priority given to demand-reduction activities. This includes the action being developed by its prevention and media experts on the role of the media and the evaluation of prevention strategies. The Pompidou Group is also currently collecting information from member states on action taken to implement the conclusions of the 1990 World Ministerial Summit to Reduce the Demand for Drugs. The analysis of this information will be made available to the Assembly in due course.
5. With regard to education for health, the Council of Europe, the Commission of the European Communities and the World Health Organisation (WHO) (Europe) jointly carried out pilot projects between 1985 and 1990 in eleven towns throughout Europe in order to try out an education for health model devised by the Council of Europe. This model is based on a positive approach to health without any particular reference to specific addictions (drugs, alcohol, tobacco, etc) and is carried out in both the school and the surrounding community. Since the completion of the pilot project, a pan-European programme, run jointly by the three Organisations, named "The Health Promoting School" has been established. It involves a number of schools (10 circa) in each European country, working under a national co-ordinator, to ensure a coherent programme. Meetings of co-ordinators, teacher seminars and twinning of schools are among the more urgent tasks being carried out under this programme.